General Article Reporting suicide and self-harm

Topic Selected: Self-harm and Suicide
This article is 10 years old. Click here to view the latest articles for this topic.

If you are tasked with reporting about suicide or self-harm it is really important to do this responsibly as studies have shown that some reporting can lead to copycat behaviour.

  • Focus on feelings, not behaviours. Try to report underlying issues or motivations behind the self-harm, as opposed to detailing the behaviour itself. Graphic descriptions can be used as tips by people who may be predisposed to self-harming.
  • Don’t be explicit about methods, e.g. it may be okay to mention taking an...

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